Dragons on the Dormer

Banbury, England ~ February 16, 2010
See the rest of the facade

Originally built in 1537

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Bedded Down

Near Bend, Oregon ~ May 27, 2004
Outside of the High Desert Museum

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Triceratops on a Carousel

Paris ~ October 14, 2008

Jardin des Plantes

Here's a Triceratops, another animal in the series from the delightful and thought-provoking Dodo Carousel of Extinct and Endangered Animals. Check out the giant panda looking rather pensive in the background.

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Tapir Mask?

Manaus, Brazil ~ April 25, 2007

Here's another of those pointy-nosed balsa wood masks we saw in the open-air market in Manaus. In this case, it just may be a tapir.

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Green on Green

Seattle, Washington ~ May 5, 2008

Woodland Park Zoo

Emerald tree boa

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Natural History, Unnatural Light

London ~ February 14, 2010

Natural History Museum

As day faded, the electric lighting bathed the sculpture-adorned Victorian facade in wonderfully eerie colors.

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Leaping

Pompeii, Italy ~ April 19, 2004

They may be antelope.

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Greek Fish Bowl

Chicago, Illinois ~ April 21, 2005

The Art Institute of Chicago

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Old Pub Dog, 1595

Stratford-upon-Avon, England ~ February 17, 2010
The Garrick Inn

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Clean Water for Fish

Salmon near a Drain

Portland, Oregon ~ January 3, 2010

Parking Lot of the Sheraton Hotel

Not far from the Columbia River

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A Dour Lion at Brookfield Zoo

Brookfield, Chicago, Illinois ~ April 25, 2005

Brookfield Zoo (Chicago Zoological Society)

I don't know if this lion was having a bad day or was merely tending to his official duties. The zoo grounds are quite beautiful, and the weather was superb. So, where are all the people? That's OK, it was nice having some space in which to enjoy it all.

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No Birds

Banbury, England ~ February 16, 2010

Lion atop a Yorkshire Bank building

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Fish on the Floor

Songgang, Guangdong Province, China ~ March 12, 2010

(A town about an hour's drive north of Hong Kong)

Photo by Francisca de Zwager

From the album: "::: view thru my lens :::" by Francisca de Zwager

Francisca wrote: "Animal Art Along the Way. This shot of the fish stone mosaic on the garden floor of our apartment complex in Songgang is for my friend Sheryl who posts her fun animal art photos daily on her blog: http://animalartalongtheway.blogspot.com/. This may not amount to 'urban art' by strict definition, but I enjoy anything creative that enriches our city living. If it makes me smile, it's good. March 12."

Thank you, Francisca! Your post made me smile, too.

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Red Head

Warwick, England ~ February 17, 2010

Warwick Castle

A dog's head carved on the arm of a chair in the great hall of Warwick Castle.

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Sivatherium: Not A Modern-day Giraffe

Paris ~ October 14, 2008

On the Dodo Carousel of extinct and endangered animals in the Jardin des Plantes are several extinct Sivatheria (singular: Sivatherium). Bleary-eyed in the dusk after a long walk, I thought they were giraffes. I was delighted to find that they were something much rarer in my experience, and I began to look at the rest of the animals. . . . I blogged about the carousel on my personal blog here, and someone else has blogged it here. You can learn more about Sivatherium on Wikipedia and Laelaps.

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A Leaping Orca in Seattle

Seattle, Washington ~ Several years ago

It was fun to encounter this leaping orca on the side of a building not far from the waterfront in Seattle. Unfortunately, I was not careful about taking the photos, and I had no thought at the time that they'd be part of an animal art blog. I like strange juxtapositions, and the hyper-realistic leaping orca with the industrial pipes is one of those. See below for a close-up of the orca.

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Pisces

St-Denis Basilica, St-Denis, France ~

October 15, 2008

I've already posted Taurus from the flooring in front of the high altar, and today we have Pisces. For a further description, click on the link above to the Taurus post.

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Egyptian Ram

New York ~ May 7, 2009

Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Peacocks on a Pulpit

Ravello, Italy ~ April 22, 2004

I was taken aback by the combined simplicity and artistic beauty of the Byzantine interior of this church on the Piazza Vescovado, the main square of Ravello. My first blog post showing the church's interior features the lions holding up the other of the two 13th Century pulpits in this photo on Tapirgal's Daily Image. The church was built in the 11th Century and renovated in 1786. This post shows the outside of the church on the piazza.

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Stork

Paris ~ October 14, 2008

Jardin des Plantes

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Bison at Brookfield

Brookfield, Chicago, Illinois ~ April 25, 2005

Brookfield Zoo (Chicago Zoological Society)

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Three Armadillos and Something White with Eyes

Manaus, Brazil ~ April 25, 2007

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Door to the Shedd

Chicago ~ April 22, 2005

Shedd Aquarium, Main Entrance

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Ancient Crustacean in Paris

Paris ~ October 14, 2008

Extinct Crustacean

I found this ancient crustacean high on the wall at the Paleontology Museum in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. I have no idea what it is (and what a lovely flowing tail it has), but if you do, I'd love to hear it. For some reason the digital camera makes it look closer to the ground than it is. The museum door is so ornate, it's almost possible to overlook the critters on the facade. Once again, we arrived at the museum too late in the day to go in. (Sorry about the focus, it was getting dark.) From images I've seen of the inside of the museum online, it is a paleo-fan's paradise.

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Peacock and White Poinsettia

Warwick, England ~ February 17, 2010
Warwick Castle

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The Oxford Ox

Oxford, England ~ February 18, 2010

Clearly, this is the Oxford Ox. What is not so clear is what it's on. It was a metal box on the sidewalk just outside the Sheldonian Theatre, and there was construction going on there. The box may have housed wiring, or again it could have been a trash can. I should have taken a better reference photo, but we were moving quickly through the rain. This is the only time I saw the Oxford Ox, but there may have been many I missed.

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Little Foxes

London ~ February 20, 2010

Inside the Natural History Museum, South Kensington

Whether these are bat-eared foxes or fennec foxes (Vulpes zerda), I can't say. Bat-eared foxes live in the savannahs of Africa, while fennecs live on the northern rim of the Sahara desert. The cactus behind them looks to me like it comes from the American Southwest, but there are some forms of cacti in the fennec's range. I don't know of any American foxes with such big ears. The fennec is the smallest of the foxes.

This carving is among many that adorn the inside of the amazing building of the Natural History Museum in London, and will feature more in future posts. This carving is found on the newel post of the stairway leading to the second floor.

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White Horse

Oxford, England ~ February 18, 2010

52 Broad Street

I'm continuing "England Week" here and on Tapirgal's Daily Image. I thought of cropping this photo to give it a cleaner look, but I absolutely love all of the window details and the lamp in the lower right. So, please bear with the clutter and enjoy the details. The White Horse is across the street from the famous Sheldonian Theatre. We were on our way to the Ashmolean Museum (on a mission, and it was closing soon) and we didn't go inside the White Horse. Too bad, it sounds like a great pub. Every inch of Oxford was a photo, and every inch was beckoning.

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London Panda

London ~ February 14, 2010

Isn't that a giant panda going down the escalator in one of London's tube stations?

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Paternoster

Paternoster Square, London ~ February 13, 2010

A plaque on the front of the sculpture reads:

PATERNOSTER

Elisabeth Frink (1930 - 1993)

Originally commissioned

by Paternoster Development Ltd

First unveiled by Yehudi Menuhin in 1975

Reinstated by Mitsubishi Estate in 2003

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Birds on a Crest

Oxford, England ~ February 18, 2009

This is one of a number of painted crests carved on the old wooden exterior doors of the Bodleian Library.

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